If you get frustrated every time your Mac asks you to create or enter a password, welcome to the club. The concept of using a secret string of characters to identify a person--and, in many cases, encrypt information to keep other people from seeing it--pervades the world of computing. While passwords may have been a good idea decades ago, today they rank right up there with spam as a major source of annoyance for computer users. Fortunately, you can eliminate a great deal of this password pain with a combination of common sense and technology. Here's how to create, manage, and remember all your passwords.

Passwords protect your credit card, bank account, and personal data. But how many of us rely on the same one (involving a pet's name to boot) for every account we have? Here's how to create long, strong passwords that you'll be able to remember.